Thursday, 23 June 2011

Ball girl: Bethanie Mattek-Sands wears an unusual bespoke outfit for her first match at Wimbledon today

A quick glance and you might have mistaken her for some sort of quirky pop star.

Not for nothing is Bethanie Mattek-Sands known as the Lady Gaga of tennis.

The American baffled fans as she stepped out on court yesterday in war paint and a white bomber jacket decorated with spray-painted white tennis balls chopped in half.

And when she removed her coat, the white dress she had on underneath appeared to have lost a sleeve.

All white? The white fringed jacket was created by Lady Gaga's own fashion designers

The outfit complemented an armful of colourful tattoos, socks pulled up to the knees and the face paint. The 26-year-old claimed that was actually a couple of anti-glare patches.

Miss Mattek-Sands had already turned heads with an equally bizarre tennis ball outfit at a pre-Wimbledon party last week, which was designed by one of Lady Gaga's own dressers.

Ball-girl: Mattek-Sands arrives for her match against Japan's Misaki Doi

British designer Alex Noble had again been commissioned for yesterday's outfit.

Unfortunately for Miss Mattek-Sands, it failed to inspire her to victory.

Despite going into the match as the firm favourite and 30th seed, she lost in three sets to Japan's Misaki Doi. And her decorum appeared to desert her as she refused to shake the umpire's hand at the end.

The tongue-in-cheek number is just another example of how players are working around the rules to make fashion more prominent on court.

Skin art: The tennis player shows off her tattoos in a one-shouldered top

On Monday, Venus Williams wore a Greek-inspired romper suit by her own brand Eleven. And high-end label Ralph Lauren have designed new uniforms for the ball-boys.

Mattek-Sands said last month: 'I don't think I can really challenge the colour rule right now. You know, I got to figure something out. Obviously the white, you got to work with a lot of the cuts.

'Obviously I'll be wearing my high socks. But yeah, it's always challenging to think of new things for Wimbledon.

When fashion meets function: Serena, left, and Venus Williams are trendy sisters at the tournament